Success Stories: Everyone a Drama Queen in USAID-funded Web Series, Gay OK Bangkok

Social media are not only a means for men who have sex with men (MSM) to find friends and sexual partners. They are also an important driver of the sexual norms that influence HIV risk among these men. The USAID- and PEPFAR-funded LINKAGES Thailand project is targeting these norms through an innovative web series, Gay OK Bangkok, which drew more than 60,000 viewers in March with a soapy story of love, trust, and HIV.

Gay OK Bangkok was developed and launched by the Asia-Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health  APCOM), a LINKAGES Thailand implementing partner, as part of their ongoing TestBKK campaign, which seeks to generate demand for MSM-friendly HIV testing services in Bangkok and around Thailand. The five-part web series, which was modeled on a popular Thai teenage television drama, Hormones, focuses on the relationship trials and tribulations of a group of young, gay men living in Bangkok. It weaves a number of health issues into its storylines, including HIV testing, treatment, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).